Real Estate Marketing on Facebook: How Not To Do It

Filed in Featured, Social Media by Matt McGee on October 19, 2010 11 Comments

facebook_logoOne of the local real estate offices here in town is apparently all a-flutter over Facebook. Agents are being told left-and-right to “get on Facebook” because it’s the thing to do, I suppose. And it certainly is a good thing to do if you know what you’re doing and have the social skills to connect with real people. Maybe one of these days I’ll try to crank out a nice, detailed post with some best practices for real estate agents on Facebook.

This is not that post. This is a post directed as much at the marketing people that pitch real estate agents as it is to agents themselves. Have a look at what arrived in the e-mail machine a couple days ago:

facebook-realestate

Re-read that last sentence again if you need to.

120 pre-written Facebook status updates to cut and paste.

Since I previously wrote how Real Estate SEO is a Joke, maybe the new post I should write is “Real Estate Social Media Advice is a Joke.” Only I think these folks are serious.

It goes without saying that buying pre-written status updates is not how to use Facebook, but I’m afraid to think how many agents would buy something like that. Or already did.

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  1. Jackson Lo says:

    Would you say Real State agents are the easiest to approach for SEO services? From my readings and research, it seems to be the case. They also seem to be the ones looking for help in this area, at least in my area (Ottawa).

    I must say that when I read ‘pre-written updates’ it almost knocked me off my chair. And we are in the era where customer service is utmost important and people are looking read genuine and resourceful content. This beats the purpose.

    Great post, looking forward to the next chapter!

    Jackson

  2. Dana says:

    Hi Matt-
    It really is scary that this company will provide (unsuspecting) clients with canned updates! Unfortunately, the only thing that works on a platform like FB is engagement.

    I happen to think that effective social meadia marketing for the local businesses owners of the world is going to be a really tough sell.The last thing they want to hear is that at the end of day (or even during the day) they will need to engage with their (potential) or existing clients. Smart small business owners will leverage their blogs to update their FB pages just to save some time.

    It will be interesting to see how savvy marketers, and local business owners alike, take advantage of the recent FB-Bing alliance.

    Insightful post. Thanks for sharing!

    Dana

  3. Dan Connolly says:

    One thing to understand about Realtors is that the turnover and fallout rate is huge and there is a great deal of business in selling false hope to agents circling the drain. Our industry is full of experts selling seminars on how to make it with Twitter Facebook Linkedin Foursquare etc etc. The message is always laughable yet the rooms are always full.

    I really don’t think there is a good way to utilize Facebook for Real Estate (for me) other than getting closer to my actual friends who may send me an occasional referral. I think the only way that will happen is if I don’t alienate them by advertising to them. Everyone hates a needy salesman.

  4. Sergio says:

    Hello,
    I think Facebook is a tool for any business. And the truth all of Creativity focuses on connecting with people who want to follow you. Then start with the strategy necessary to accomplish the desired objective.

    Business creativity is the key word 🙂

    Greetings!

    Sergio Vergara

  5. The unfortunate thing about social media is that it takes so much time to learn how to do it right! And, so much of the information I’ve come across conflicts (post listings to Facebook, don’t post listings to Facebook). I love technology, but sometimes I yearn for the good old days of real estate before the internet came along.

    • Matt McGee says:

      No doubt that there’s a lot of conflicting advice out there, Pamela. Here’s what I tell clients, friends, etc.: Social media is nothing new. It’s the online version of standing around the water cooler chatting with friends. It’s the online version of attending a local networking event with the Chamber of Commerce people. It’s communication. You’ve been doing it your whole life.

      So … just like you wouldn’t show up at a local networking event and walk around the room telling everyone about all your new listings, you don’t do that on social media sites. Ask yourself: How would I feel if I was on the receiving end of this message? Would I be interested in it? Would I feel like the sender was trying to talk to me, or selling me something? It’s not rocket science. It’s making real connections. It’s about what you can give to the social community you join, not what you can get from it (i.e., sales, leads, etc.).

  6. Les says:

    Most people would realize that the updates were canned and not genuine comments from a living, breathing person.

  7. It does amaze me how much bad advise there is out there for real estate agents. Most don’t understand internet marketing, therefore they are blindly following what they hear. I see so many agents spamming FB with their listings on their personal profiles. They don’t have a clue.

  8. Ed Bisquera says:

    A great how not to do Facebook post, not just for real estate agents, but for many other industries. Thanks for bringing the smackdown on these lame tactics Matt!! 😉

  9. I think a decent real estate agent wouldn’t fall into that. But I guess if they’re desperate, they might give it a try.

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